Hours became days, days became weeks, weeks became months, and months became years. A few extra calories here and there add up- my guess was my body was hanging onto an extra 350,000 calories! The evidence was there, my body weight had sky rocketed to a whopping 298lbs. But I was comfortable. I was accustomed to my reflection in the mirror, and ambivalent to what I was ultimately doing to my body, and my life. My wife would express her concerns about my health, but hey, I was happy with my life. I was blessed with a great career and amazing wife and kids, getting in shape could wait another day. There were no indications that I needed to make a life transformation; except for the fact that my wife constantly reminded me, but I digress! 🙂 Why would someone who was ultimately “happy”, want to make a change? I would realize one year later, that I was actually lying to myself.

I remember “the day”, like it was yesterday. On February 15th 2007, after we put the kids to bed, my wife decided to go grocery shopping, and left me with our little ones (6yrs, 6yrs, 3yrs at that time). It was around 8:30pm, and I was “comfortably” glued in front of my TV, accompanied by my customary super sized bag of BBQ chips, and ice cold beer. I was really looking forward to washing it down with a pint of ice cream, but that would not happen that evening. My baby girl (6yrs) started crying (daddy) loudly from her bedroom, on the second story. I was on the first story, so i huffed and puffed, and made my way up to her room. As I was about to enter her room, she was waiting for me in front of her bedroom door. I asked her “what’s wrong honey”. Her response was “I don’t want you to die daddy”. At first, her statement didn’t really hit me with the fullest of force, which was coming next. I picked her up and put her in bed, and lay down next to her trying to comfort her, and trying to reassure her that daddy wasn’t going to die. Once she was calm, I asked her why she would even think that. Her response would be the catalyst (or wake-up call) I needed for a life transformation.

“Mommy took us for a walk today. We were walking and i saw a bird lying on the sidewalk. The bird was not moving at all. I wanted to pick it up and help it fly, but mommy stopped me. I asked mommy why isn’t the bird moving. She explained to me that the birdie died and went to heaven. I asked her why? She said it could be many reasons. It could be because it was not healthy, but it’s in a good place now.” I went on to ask my daughter what this had to do with me. “I always hear mommy tell you daddy, that she is worried that you are not being healthy. I don’t want you to die daddy. I’m going to miss you if you die daddy”. That short conversation hit me with the most ferocious blow I’ve ever felt. I just lay there next to my girl crying silently, trying to understand how I got to here. I very quickly came to the conclusion, that although I needed to understand how I got to that low point, more importantly I needed to change my lifestyle, IMMEDIATELY. My wife got home shortly after. I vowed to her that “tomorrow was a new day”, and I was ready to transform into the best version of George: for her, for my kids and for myself.

Over the years, I did acquire a lot of “book” knowledge, and tried multiple “fad” diets, but nothing worked for me long term. I could not stick to any regimen or diet with strict long term parameters. Once I deviated from a strict plan, I quickly “jumped off the train”, and gained the weight back, and more. I was “perfectly imperfect” and knew I needed something effective, I could stick to at least 90% of the time. Instead of trying to convince myself of the typical “I’ll start Monday” approach, I truly believed that my life transformations did not have time to wait. This new chapter in my life, would start right now! I called my doctor first thing the next morning, and was fortunate he had an opening later that day. I’m very goal driven and wanted to get a snapshot of my “before and after” both from a visual, but also from a clinical perspective. I also did a body fat composition analysis.

This was my starting point (February 2007):

298 LBS total weight

6′ 1.5 “

159 LBS lean body mass

139 LBS fat mass

47% body fat

Size 48 men’s pants

high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, high glucose…

In the beginning I kept on thinking about the significance of the mountain I had to climb. I wanted to do this the right way, put in the work without any shortcuts, but understood that I had to figure out how to break the problem down to succeed. I needed to change my mindset and my approach. I decided to set “micro-goals”; goals that included more than just weight loss but on other attributes like strength, endurance, learning, and inspiring others.

I remember entering my gym (which i had been paying membership dues for years and not using), and feeling nervous and shy that people were looking at me like I didn’t belong there. I live in Scottsdale, AZ where 99% of the folks here look like they belong on the cover of a health magazine. Even though those insecurities were there, I believe I had just as much #PassionAndPurpose to get to a better version of myself, as they did. This was a battle of me vs. me, and not what everyone else thought about me. I realized later that this perception was all in my head. I also quickly learned to feed off of the positivity of fellow fitness junkie’s who were all going through their own journeys. The people I was most nervous of being embarrassed by, quickly became my inspiration and my friends.

At first I had this baked as a one year commitment, but then realized that even though I was measuring success at specific points, there was no destination on this journey. Who I was becoming was the ultimate prize. I have to admit, there were many twists and turns on my journey (and continue to come across), but I managed to learn something from them every single time. After about 18 months of inspiration, love, sacrifice, and perspiration, I had a completely unrecognizable body but was still the same #KidAtHeart!

Over the years I’ve kept quite a few things consistent that helped me maintain my amazing new lifestyle. I ensure that 90% of the food I consume is “clean” and nutrient rich. I allocate 10% for times where good options are difficult to find, or for an occasional burger or pizza. I’m human, and still a foodie! I surround myself with positive people, that inspire me to inspire. I’ve become a student of fitness, and continue change my workouts, and find new ways to stay active. (i.e.: strength training, uphill sprints, Olympic lifting, power lifting, kickboxing, MMA, Amenzone, hot yoga, swimming, Bas Rutten’s conditioning, spin class, TRX, swimming, hiking, Crossfit, Sealfit, and of course dance like Taylor Swift dances at every music award show, these days! :).

Fast forward 7 years later, my kids (wife and I) are still stunned to see pictures of me, prior to my transformation. The responses I get when I ask my kids to look at these 3 pictures, and share the first thing that comes to mind:

Not strong / Very Strong

Man boobs & Barrel / Pecs & Abs

Sad / Very Happy

The truth is, people have always been more inclined and comfortable sharing a “filtered” view of their lives. For many (including myself) social networks have become a fabric in our lives, and although it’s a great enabler allowing us to stay close to distant family, friends, and people we “look up to”, it does also magnify the gap between what’s “reality” and what’s not. This goes beyond adding a cool Instagram filter, to a photo taken at a specific angle making the subject look younger, fitter, more ripped than they are in reality. This is about feeding a false perception that life, and in turn, people are perfect.

Many previous generations did not grow up on this “social engine” and have been exposed to (or experienced) “the struggle”. My wife and I want to create a “lens” into a world, for our 3 amazing kids (and for the younger generation) to truly understand that LIFE IS NOT PERFECT, and PEOPLE ARE NOT PERFECT! 🙂 We want to inspire them to believe that with enough positivity, encouragement and compassion they can overcome any struggle and define their own sense of happiness. It’s really important to have goals and put in the work to attain those goals, but being the best version of YOURSELF, will ultimately enable longer term happiness. It’s not all about the destination, but who you become on your journey. 🙂

Many of my friends know about my life transformation, and many have inspired me and continue to inspire me without even knowing it! That’s the greatest gift you can give anyone, and I am grateful that they played (and continue to play) a part on my journey!

I wake up with an #AttitudeOfGratitude every day, and feel blessed to have been given the strength and inspiration, to transform my life and redefine “happiness”. My hope is that my story inspires others to self-reflect, and gather inspiration and strength to become healthier, happier, and the best possible version of themselves!

Some other tips that may help:

You might fall off the train and deviate, just make sure you jump back on as quickly as possible (#AllAboutTheJourney)

Surround yourself with people that are going to inspire you, and allow you to inspire them to stay on a positive path (#PozitivPosse)

You don’t need to be perfect (#PerflectlyImperfect)

Make sure you lead a Balanced life. Balance in your life will instill longevity in anything you do. (#Balanced)

Don’t worry about what others are doing. This is a battle of you vs. you.

Make this a lifestyle change. It may take longer to reach your goals, but there’s a higher chance you will keep the weight off, and stay healthy.

Look for opportunities share your experiences, and inspire others. It will in turn #Inspire you as well!

Don’t look at this as a gigantic task. Chip away at it slowly. Set smaller goals, which are more than just weight-loss goals. They could be weekly. I didn’t get to 298 LBS overnight, and it didn’t come off overnight!

Don’t be shy about going to the gym. Everyone else is in their own world, and don’t really care what you are doing.

If you deviate from the plan while on a vacation, there’s a good chance you’ll be struggling to get into your work attire. Just make sure your new healthy lifestyle continues the day you return. Not that this has happened to me, I’ve heard of others experiencing this 😉 .

Give yourself an excuse to keep moving outside of the gym. You’d be surprised how much it will help especially if you have a sedentary (office) type of job.

Keep changing your workout routine or types of workouts every 6-8 weeks. Get creative and have fun.

It’s unrealistic to think that you’ll never eat your favorite dish again. I love pizza. I either keep it for Sundays, or if i know I’m going to have it, I’ll work out before enjoying a slice or two. Same thing for ice cream, by the way! 🙂